Christians and Power

Christians have often not handled power well. Perhaps it’s more accurate just to say that humans have not handled power well. We think of power as control over circumstances and control over people. But God seems to think of power differently.

What if power were not about control others, but about loving them when they are difficult? What if power weren’t about getting your way, about but becoming a different kind of person? And what if power weren’t about changing circumstances to make them what you want, but holding on to what is true in the midst of difficulty?

As you read the passage today, ask yourself what is real power? If you had to translate this passage into your own words, how would you put it? And if God’s power is shown in the ways that Paul catalogues, what does that say about what God might be up to in your life?

We have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us: we are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. - 2 Corinthians 4:7-9